So if 90+ RAND patent owners each demand
2.25% of the total sale
price of a product, for patents on a $10 chip in a $400
device, how
can any
company afford to make that product?
If the chip
requires royalties when used for a particular
purpose then I'm
sure a patent
lawyer will tell you it isn't simply a $10
chip.
It would be really
interesting to see a complete
breakdown of the cost of
phone showing both the
bill of materials of the physical
components and also all
the intangible
imaginary IP stuff too. It would be
especially interesting if the
value for
each component was the cost offered to external
licensees (or claimed
as
damages in court documents if not licensed). I bet the
totals for all phones
(from all manufacturers)
would be several times the retail
cost.
e.g.
BOM/CPU/Item1: supply of chip xyz123 from manufacturer
-
$10
BOM/CPU/Item2: assembly of chip onto mobo - $0.05
BOM/CPU/Item3: license for US patent 11,111,111 (associated
with
BOM/CPU/Item1) - $1
BOM/CPU/Item4: license for US patent 11,111,112
(associated
with BOM/CPU/Item1) -
$1
BOM/CPU/Item5: license for US
patent 11,111,113 (associated
with BOM/CPU/Item1) -
$1
...
BOM/CPU/Itemn: license for US patent 1.2345e48 (associated
with
BOM/CPU/Item1) -
$1.01
...
BOM/Case/Item1: supply of case
assembly from supplier -
$1.75
BOM/Case/Item2: assembly of case -
$0.03
BOM/Case/Item3: license for 'case with rounded corners'
patent
(assoc w/
BOM/Case/Item1) - $40
BOM/Case/Item4: license for 'case
that is predominantly
black with few buttons'
patent (assoc w/ BOM/Case/Item1)
- $30
...
I would love to hear a clear explanation of
how such a
device can be sold below
cost once all the intangible costs are
included - are all
technology
manufacturers engaged in dumping?! Or is
imaginary property
simply not as
valuable as some would lead us to
believe?
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